Institutionalized
by charlyebaines
Summary: AU taking place in a mental hospital. Harry gets admitted and meets Tom Riddle who was brought there for killing animals and having homicidal thoughts. Their meeting doesn't go great since Tom has disdain for anyone who tries killing themselves due to his fear of death. Will their hatred turn to something else?
1. Chapter 1: New Patient

Institutionalized

TRIGGER WARNING: Eating disorder, suicide, anxiety, and depression. Please read on with caution. National suicide prevention line: 1-800-273-8255 US. If needing someone to talk to, I am here. You are loved and wanted.

Hi guys, this is an AU fic that takes place in a muggle mental hospital (psych ward). I actually just got out of one and this idea came to mind. Hope you enjoy! As always, I don't own Harry Potter.

Hogwarts, hospital for the mentally ill, was the finest institution in England. The most troubled youth resided there. The richest families would send hefty donations to the hospital in order to turn around their son or daughter. With these hefty donations the hospital was able to afford for its patients to have the highest of comforts. Vast libraries, high end food and the finest doctors and nurses available. Albus Dumbledore, was the head of Hogwarts and was shown to be a gentle soul. He truly wanted the best for his patients.

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in a large, plush chair in his office. He was currently reading the file for the newest patient, Harry Potter. Mr. Potter had had a troubled life, adopted by the Dursleys after his parents died, and had terrible depression and anxiety. The newest patient was brought here after a recent stunt with trying to kill himself. After meeting the Dursleys, Albus could see why. The Dursleys had gone on and on about how expensive the institution is and how Mr. Potter was a freak of nature and a waste of space. Albus considered himself to be a very friendly man, but to the Dursleys he found it hard to be amicable.

Suddenly a loud banging noise came from behind the door. Albus sighed, sitting down the files with a frown.

"Come in," Albus said gravely.

A brunette, brown eyed man comes through the door, looking enraged.

"Albus, Harry Potter is the new patient? I will not have anything to do with James's spawn. Damned brat, probably did it for attention." The man said, eyes glaring at the head of Hogwarts. Albus said nothing for awhile, remembering the infatuation Severus had had with Lily Potter, a nurse that used to work here. How devastated he was when Lily had married James, a police officer. That devastation had clearly changed Severus. Once was a kind hearted man who worked to save lives, and now was a man who worked to earn a paycheck. Truly was sad.

Severus Snape watched Albus while fuming inside. How dare Albus allow such filth to come here, who cares if the boy had tried to kill himself, Severus would not treat the brat. Severus had worked at the institution for many years as a psychiatrist and had seen the worst of the worst. True, he used to love his job, but that had changed after years of working at the institution. He had changed into a bitter man. Having to deal with brats that just wanted attention. Severus was the best psychiatrist that England had to offer. The pay was great, which was why Severus stayed.

"Severus, you must treat Harry Potter. He is a patient, just like anyone else that resides here. He must be taken care of. You must let this childish feud between you and James Potter go. Young Harry is not his father." Albus finally said, after a period of silence.

Putting his head in his hands, Severus whispered, "how am I supposed to treat the boy when everytime I look at him I'll be reminded of Lily." Severus knew he sounded like a broken man, but that was preposterous, he wasn't broken. He's seen broken and broken is what his patients are. Broken is when you binge on vodka while taking a cocktail of pills. Broken is when you scream into the night with insanity, because you just can't take the pain anymore. While James Potter always wanted to be a police officer, Severus had once not known what to do with his life. The only reason he studied psychiatry was in fact Lily's doing. Lily had told him to do something great in his life. And sure, Potter put people behind bars. But, Severus? He saved those who didn't have anyone to turn to. He saved the unwanted. And even though, he had grew into a bitter man. He knew Lily would be proud of him and in that moment Severus had a revelation. He had to treat the Potter brat- no, Harry. That wasn't just James's spawn, that was Lily's child. And Severus promised himself that he would never turn a patient away, and turning Harry away made Severus disgusted of himself. He was a doctor, for Salazar's sake. And a doctor he would be.

"I'm sorry Severus, but we must treat the boy. And as the headmaster, I have already decided that the boy will be attending this institution. It is final." Albus replied with a frown. Now while Severus had came to his revelation, he was not ready to admit to Albus that he was right. No, he wasn't letting him know his words actually got through to Severus. So he did what he did best, he turned around and stalked out the door in a fury. It was a pride thing, you know.

Madame Pomfrey had seen it all, the bad and the worst. So she wasn't surprised when she saw the newest patient screaming while being brought into the building on a gurnee with straps. She had been a nurse here for a long time and knew just what to do to calm a patient down. She always kept calm in situations like this and kept sedatives with her to aid her in making the transition to the patient's room easier. Quietly and quickly, she uncapted the shot and injected it into new newest patients arm. She used to feel bad about sedating a patient, when all they were doing was reacting to someone actually caring for them. And not mistreating them like they are used to. But alas, the days of feeling bad about injecting patients with sedatives were over. She had learned her lesson, unfortunately. She got too close to a patient and nearly lost her life, no she didn't blame the patient. She blamed the illness.

She motioned to the nurses to bring, young Harry into his room. He would be sharing a room with their toughest ward, Mr. Malfoy. 'Good luck, Harry,' she thought.

The room was white, and tan. The room gave off a stench of cleaning supplies, the smell Pomfrey had grown to love while the patients hated. Two cots were in the room followed by a curtain in the middle, in order for each patient to have their own "privacy." Though they were routinely monitored by cameras. Mr. Malfoy had sat up from his cot, looking annoyed.

"Oh come on. Pomfrey. Not another one, I just got rid of the last one. I thought I finally got my own room." Draco was beyond irritated. His parents donated thousands of dollars to Hogwarts and he couldn't get his own room. 'Ridiculous,' Draco thought. Of course, his parents only donated to the institution so no word would get out that their only son lived with a eating disorder. What could he say, being a Malfoy was hard work. Having to be perfect all the time really messed with his self esteem. He had been in the ward for almost a year already and he honestly wished he never would leave. Here, people cared no matter how many insults he threw. His parents never cared like that, He had only seen his parents a total of two times since coming to Hogwarts. And of course, they brought a fat check with them each time to keep the staff quiet.

"Be quiet, Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Potter is sleeping and we don't want to wake him. You remember your first day here don't you?" Madam Pomfrey said in a caring, but sterned voice. Pomfrey was the grandmother that Draco had always wanted. Of course, she would never know he kept her in such high esteem.

Oh yes, Draco did remember his first day. He was brought by ambulance in the middle of the night to the institution. The arrival didn't go well, and he was injected with those damned sedatives. His newest roommate looked bad, and he wasn't talking about his unruly black hair. No, it looked like the boy hadn't slept in weeks from the dark circles underneath his eyes. 'Wonder what kept him up,' Draco thought curiosiously.

Draco watched them unstrap the sleeping boy and put him in his cot and hooked him up with the bed straps.

"We won't be having any problems will we, Mr. Malfoy?" Madame Pomfrey questioned. Draco shook his head strongly.

"Good, now get some sleep Mr. Malfoy. You will need it, you have a weigh in in a couple of hours." Pomfrey announced before exiting the room and turning the lights off. Draco took his bony knees to his chest and rocked, trying to soothe his own anxieties. He knew he had lost weight, and though he knew he should be happy about that, he was only numb. Maybe it was the medicine or maybe it was the thought that he just didn't care anymore if he shriveled up and died. At least, he would be _thin_ and _perfect_ if he died. He just wanted to be perfect and with that he quietly fell back and fell in the sweet abyss of dreamless sleep.

== Hey guys, let me know how I did and if I should continue. I'm really excited about this fic and hopefully you guys like it. :) By the way, this fic will be slash. So if it's not what you're into, then I wish you a good life and a great day! :) Also, this is an abnormal psych ward, so things are different. Please don't respond with, "they don't really do that." I know, this is au. Thanks for reading, just letting my imagination soar!


	2. Chapter 2: The Meeting

Hey Guys! Thank you for the many positive reviews, I'm so happy you guys like this! Keep on reviewing, commenting and favoriting and subscribing. You guys are awesome! Alas, on with the story!

Harry woke up in a panic, drenched in sweat. He quickly realized he was held by restraints which further infuriated him. He just wanted to die, why couldn't anyone understand that.

"Quit struggling and go back to sleep. Some people, unlike you, need their beauty rest." A sharp voice said in the dark. Harry turned and looked where the voice had came from, a rather handsome blond boy. A rather skinny boy as well. 'This must be my roommate,' Harry thought gravely. As Harry was about to reply and tell the blond boy to go fuck off, the blond boy turned away and went back to sleep. 'Bugger,' Harry thought in annoyance. Harry closed his eyes and began to think about why he was here. Of course he had tried to kill himself, but the issues resided earlier than that. He'd say it all started when he was but a mere babe, when his parents were both murdered. He still has that lightning bolt scar, the scar that was carved into his head, as a reminder of that night. His aunt and uncle said the reasons they were killed were, because of him. His freakish nature, caused them to be killed. What freakish nature? Harry didn't know, quite frankly. Anything he did, was freakish to his aunt, uncle and cousin.

He couldn't even kill himself properly. What a failure he was. He couldn't do anything right. He looked at the bandages on his restrained wrists. He remembers how it felt, having the blood pour out as he cut himself with the edge of the razorblade. It was exhilarating. Ironically, the only time he had ever felt like he was alive. He had cut before, clearly by the scars on his thighs and arms. But the night he tried to kill himself he planned to go further than he ever did. He wasn't scared of dying, he thought that dying would be the peace he needed. The infinite silence. And Harry really needed the silence.

No one tells you what depression is really like. Harry frowned, as he thought about how glamorized mental illnesses were in society. He didn't feel that deep sadness in his gut, no. He felt numb, painfully numb. Flat would be the better word. He just stopped giving a fuck. Why care when you're just going to off yourself anyways. Of course, that was the plan. And still is, he just needs to get out of here. He's a pretty good actor, if you asked him. No one suspected anything, so he could definitely fake getting better. Those thoughts floated away as Harry once again, floated away into peace, still drowsy from the sedatives.

Today was the day, Severus thought. Today was the day he saw the new ward of the hospital. Mr. Harry Potter, aka his beloved Lily's child. His goal was to get in and get out as fast as he could, for he didn't think he could handle the pangs of sadness when he would see Harry. For Harry's eyes were the exact color as his dear Lily's. He pushed open the door to the new wards room and entered. 'Thank Salazar,' Severus thought with relief as he noticed that Harry was still sleeping. The sedatives, definitely did the job. The boy needed his sleep, judging by the dark circles around his eyes. He quickly made a note on his clipboard about Harry's sleeping habits. Or rather lack of. Taking advantage of the fact Harry was sleeping he undid the restraints. Hesitantly, he was unsure of whether to take them off or leave them on. Not knowing how Harry would react once he woke up. But remembered he had sedatives on him, in case the brat wanted to cause a scene.

He quietly made his way to Draco's bed, careful not to wake both the boys up. He laid a kiss on Draco's forehead. And looked down in concern. The weigh in this morning had not gone good. In fact, Draco had lost three pounds. He should be gaining, when he's losing instead. It was beyond frustrating. His godson didn't want to get better. None of the kids here did. They all wanted to wallow in their unhappiness. He promised Lucius, that he would personally make sure Draco got better. But it was so hard when Draco wasn't helping himself and was in denial about the fact that he needed to get better. He couldn't blame the boy, knowing the rough upbringing he had. And with that tender kiss on the forehead, Severus went back to the Potter boy and began to wake him gently. Well as gently as Severus could.

"Potter, it's time to get up. Breakfast will be served soon." Harry awoke to a strange voice in his ear. His mind was groggy and he just wanted to go back to the silence of his mind. He didn't want to get up. He went to go turn to the other side of the cot, when he noticed that he could move. 'I can move!' Harry thought excitedly. His eyes snapped open following the new revelation. His eyes were granted with the sight of a stranger before him. A greasy haired bat, if you asked him. The man was tall, wearing white hospital scrubs.

Severus almost lost it when he saw the beautiful eyes open and look towards him. 'Just like Lily,' Severus thought with a pang of emotion. He cleared his throat in order to bypass the emotions inside of him.

"I see that you are up now. Good. I'm going to look at your wounds now. If you make any trouble, I won't hesitate to sedate you." Severus warned. Harry gulped, knowing the man would do just that if Harry made a scene like last night. He definitely didn't want to be sedated. The overwhelming feeling of not having control over his own body didn't sound like fun to him. He always wanted control, which is why he'd rather kill himself then have somebody else do it. He wanted to be the cause of his own death. With a deep sigh, Harry sat up and put his palms facing up, allowing the doctor to see the bandages around his wrists.

Severus went full professional mode. Wanting to get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible. He made sure not to grimace or show emotion when looking at the wounds. The patients didn't like that, he had come to learn. The wounds were deep, definitely the wounds of someone who had desperately wanted to end their life. It's a miracle that he lived through this. It would scar, that he knew for sure. The boy had many scars, Severus assessed as his eyes glanced towards the upper parts of his arms. He quickly sterilized the wound and rebandaged it. This took a total of five minutes, but felt like eternity for Severus. It was so hard not to look into the eyes of Harry. He wanted to protect the boy, much like his godson, Draco. He wanted the boy to live to know how selfish it was to hurt the body that Lily gave him. Harry could've been his own son. Severus quickly made up his mind, he was going to help this boy as much as he could. For Lily, he swore.

"How long do I have to stay here?" The voice awoke Severus from his thoughts.

Looking into those green eyes, he said simply, "until you get better."

Harry sighed. 'Until he got better,' that could take months, even years. He had never felt okay in his life. He had to play nice for now and then could later get that sweet release of the razorblade going across his skin. Though this time he would go deeper. Oh yes, much deeper.

"Thoughts of suicide? Don't worry we all have had them when we get here." The blond boy spoke. Harry didn't even notice when Severus has left, too absorbed in his morbid thoughts.

"You don't know what I'm thinking!" Harry snapped. Who was this arrogant arsehole. He spoke as if he was better than everyone, it reminded him of his cousin, Dudley. Yes, Harry could tell that him and his roommate would not be bonding anytime soon. And Harry was okay with that. He wasn't there to make friends.

"You looked nicer when you were asleep. My name is Draco by the way." Draco said with an air of disdain.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I don't care who you are. Leave me alone." Draco had had no problem with his new roommate until he had rejected his offer of friendship. Excuse him, for trying to be nice to the new boy. It hurt Draco, not that he would ever admit it to anyone except himself. Was he not good enough to have a friend? Seemed that way. Always seemed that way. People left, Draco knew. It was the way of life, no one really stayed. And if they did, they wanted something. Being a Malfoy most of his so called "friendships" were based on how much money his family had and his inheritance. None of it was ever, because they genuinely liked Draco. 'Except Blaise,' Draco thought with sadness. His first ever roommate, Blaise had been the one to teach him the ropes around here. He didn't care about his money or who his parents were. He liked Draco for him. And that meant so much to Draco. His first ever friendship. And his first heartbreak. When Blaise got released, it tore Draco apart. Draco never dealt with change well and selfishly hoped Blaise would stay in the ward and wait for Draco to get better. But Draco knew how excited Blaise was to get home to his gold digging mother. How different mother and son were. With those thoughts on his mind, Draco left the room and went to the dining hall to have breakfast. Knowing if he didn't he'd be attached to a feeding tube. He grimaced with that thought.

Harry watched his roommate leave the room without replying to Harry. 'Good,' Harry thought. He didn't need anyone. Only himself. His stomach growled and remembered the doctor had said something about breakfast being served soon. Wanting to not be late he rushed to leave the room.

'Wait...where even is the lunch room?' Draco would have definitely been a great help at a moment like this. Maybe he shouldn't of pushed him away like this. His stomach suddenly made a questionable sound. He was so hungry. 'Why did the institution have to be a bloody castle?' Harry thought annoyed.

'Oomf'

Someone hit him, or he hit someone. That's all Harry could think of before looking at the books scattered around the floor. Looking up, he noticed a girl with brown hair and brown eyes. Wearing hospital scrubs that looked like the cleanest he'd ever seen. 'The prettiest shade of white,' Harry thought before the sound of the girl clearing her throat brought him out of it.

"Oh, sorry. My bad. Let me help you." Harry quickly responded, bending down to help the girl collect her books. Looking down he noticed various book titles, varying about different mental illnesses. 'She must be a nurse,' Harry thought with disdain. She looked too young to be a nurse though.

"Thank you, my name is Hermione Granger. I'm an intern here. And you are?" The girl, the now known Hermione Granger said. She seemed pretty friendly, but again Harry wasn't there to make friends.

"Where's the lunch room?" Harry questioned bluntly. He really didn't want to miss breakfast. Hermione frowned.

"It's down the hall and to the left. Why don't I show you? I'll walk with you. It'd be great to have someone to talk to." Hermione said excitedly. Being an intern was hard, no one took her seriously enough to let her administer medicine or even clean the beds of the bedwetting patients. Plus, no one was even nice to her. They treated her like she didn't belong here, except the headmaster of course.

"No thank you. Goodbye." Harry ended the conversation swiftly. He was just so hungry, and the thought of talking to someone almost made him lose his appetite. Almost. And with that, he rushed to breakfast, opening up the double doors he saw four giant, long tables. He looked for a space that was occupying the least amount of people. Finding a space, Harry went to go sit down.

The food looked exquisite. He dug in, giving himself a healthy portion. He looked up and wished he hadn't. Everyone was looking at him. Shaking it off, because he was hungry. He started eating when a voice came from behind him.

"Having fun are we?" The voice was cold, as if all the happiness in the world had gone. Turning around, Harry's eyes were met with the most handsome man he'd ever seen in his life. Jet black hair and chiseled features. The boy smirked as he noticed Harry looking at him. Shaking his head, Harry got out of whatever staring he was doing.

Noticing the boy was waiting for a reply, Harry stuttered out, "not particularly."

"This is where I sit. Perhaps you got lost?" The boy said, smirking while cocking his head to the side. 'This boy was rude,' Harry thought. 'Trying to make him look like a fool,' no absolutely not would Harry be made to look like a fool. He turned back around and began to eat, ignoring the boys glaring. He could feel the tension, as the whole dining hall could. It was suspenseful, everyone couldn't tear their eyes away from the conflict.

"Move," the boy ground out. 'Aw, I guess he was being nice before,' Harry thought.

"No. Who even are you? You don't own this seat." Harry bit back distastefully.

"I'm Tom Riddle. I feel we haven't been properly introduced. See, I'm the wolf and you're the sheep. And you're in my way." Riddle said humorously before coming over to Harry and taking his plate of food and turning it over onto Harry's head.

Before Harry could respond, Draco rushed up to Harry and grabbed him by the arm.

"Sorry Tom, he's new. He won't do it again, I promise! Come on, Harry." Draco said with urgent haste. Harry didn't need his roommate or anyone fighting his battles for him. He made protesting sounds, but Draco kept pulling him. Harry duly noted that Draco actually had strength to him besides being a skeleton.

"Please, go to the bathroom, I'll help you get cleaned up. We need to talk," Draco whispered. Harry decided to give up trying to protest and just gave in to Draco's whims. He followed Draco, but not before glaring at Riddle with absolute hatred. Which was returned.

Harry sat down on the floor of the bathroom and was seething. "What?" Harry ground out.

"That's Tom Riddle. Don't mess with him. He's the favorite around here. All the staff love him. He doesn't get in trouble for anything." Draco gossiped, looking in the stalls to make sure no one was there besides Harry and him. Harry didn't care if Riddle was the favorite or not. 'He was a bloody jerk,' Harry thought.

"I don't care who he's the favorite of. He's a bloody arsehole!" Draco went and locked the bathroom door. The cameras might see them, but couldn't hear them.

"I know! But listen, you don't challenge Riddle. That's a huge mistake. Danny Jones, once challenged Tom and the next day he was nowhere to be seen. He was missing, they send search parties out. It was this huge deal, they later found him on top of the roof hanging, with a suicide note written in his own blood." Draco warned. Harry listened intently to the story, hanging on every word.

"So it was just a coincidence. You think Riddle had something to do with it? There are cameras everywhere here. There's no way. He would've been caught." Harry said in disbelief. Draco sighed exasperated.

"No! Harry, look, Riddle plays a dangerous game. He has dirt on the staff, not all of them like the important ones. But the security guards? Definitely. Plus, they couldn't find footage of the event. One moment Jones was in his bed and the next he wasn't. It was like magic, I swear. And you know what Riddle was brought in for, right?" Harry had an idea why Riddle was brought in, probably narcissistic personality disorder. Knowing that bloody, self absorbed, git.

"No, what?" Harry decided to keep the personality disorder to himself. Not wanting to sound like a fool in case he was wrong.

"He's a psychopath, Harry. The orphanage found him killing animals and apparently children go missing from there every time they do something bad to Riddle." This sounded like a ghost story to Harry. And while Harry, loved his horror films, he didn't really like the thought that there could be a murderer in the hospital with him. And he pissed off that said murderer.

"How do you know this, Draco?" Harry was curious, how would Draco know this much information about Riddle.

"My father told me when he came to visit. My father donates to the school and read his file. He wasn't allowed to, but he seemed pretty happy when he told me." Draco said dryly.

"Happy?" Harry questioned. Finally getting up and turning to the mirror he saw the damage done. Covered in food. Harry began trying to get the bits out of his hair with a towel.

"Probably happy that there was someone worse than his own son in here." Harry said nothing to that. Feeling a wave of emotion for the other boy. He felt like he wasn't supposed to respond to that, so Harry continued to try and clean himself up.

"Lets go to our room, you're gonna need some new clothes and to take a shower." Draco announced through the silence.

Harry nodded and went to unlock the door when Draco stopped him.

"Hey Harry, don't mess with Riddle. I'd hate to see you hurt." Draco said seriously. Harry nodded and thought to himself, 'is this what having a friend feels like?' He quickly squandered that thought and followed Draco down the long corridors to their room. Was it bad that Harry wanted to mess with the beast? He didn't owe Draco anything, they both knew that. But Harry thought it was better to play nice right now and leave Riddle alone unless he started something with him first.

Authors Note-

I worked really hard on this chapter and I love it! Hopefully you guys do too, :)


	3. Chapter 3: Why Is Everyone Crying?

Hope you guys are good! Here is another chapter for you. Trying to update about once a day, or every two days. So please remember to follow the story so you'll get a notification when I post. :) More characters introduced in this chapter, and we get to see Tom again being a naughty little snake. Enjoy!

Also, leave a comment and tell me what characters you would like to see make an appearance!

Harry woke up early that next morning, his stomach growling in the process.

"Can you quiet that thing down?" Draco questioned grumpily. Harry rolled his eyes and got out of bed and hurried to do his business and get ready for the day. Going into their shared bathroom, he looked at the bandages covering his wrists. Like an addict, he was having withdrawals from not hurting himself. He wanted to see the blood run down his palms and on to the floor.

"Harry, are you done? You've been in there forever. Other people have to use the bathroom, you know!" Draco screeched out. Harry was startled, he looked up at the clock on the wall. He had been in the bathroom for almost thirty minutes now. He was surprised that he'd been in his morbid thoughts for that long. He hurriedly brushed his teeth and walked out of the bathroom.

"Finally!" Draco exclaimed, rushing into the bathroom at a force Harry was surprised at. Harry decided to wait for Draco before heading down to breakfast. Well, it was really Draco's idea. Ever since the conflict with Tom, Draco had stuck to him like glue. Not to Harry's delight. He had had enough socializing to last him for a decade. Draco walked out and they were finally on their way to the dining hall for breakfast, and he couldn't wait.

"The nargles are this way Neville! Follow me." Harry's thoughts about food were disturbed by a blonde haired, thin girl with piercing silver eyes. 'Wait...nargles?' Did Harry hear that right? Maybe he should visit the nurse. The strange blonde haired girl walked towards Draco and Harry with a smile.

"Hi Draco and hello Harry. The nargles are around you, they must like you. Hmm…" He had heard right! Nothing was wrong with his hearing, thankfully. 'What was wrong with her,' Harry thought in disbelief. 'And how did she know my name?' Draco turned to look at Harry, winking.

"Hi Luna and hello Neville. And what can I say? Everyone likes me." Draco said haughty. 'Neville?" Harry thought. Suddenly a chubby boy entered the corridor they were in, obviously sweating from running.

"Hi Draco. And it's Harry, right? Sorry I was following Luna, but she disappeared on me." The boy named Neville said with a shy smile, glancing at Luna every few seconds.

"Aw, yes. Looking for the nargles, I suppose. Well Harry and I must be off, have fun Luna." Draco ended the conversation, grabbing Harry by the arm and rushing him towards the doors to the dining hall. Once they got into the dining hall, they immediately found a table and sat down next to each other. Once comfortable, Harry turned and looked at Draco curiously.

"Luna has schizophrenia. Snape told us not to encourage her hallucinations, and we've tried that. It just doesn't work, so now we just go with it. And Neville follows her around like a lost puppy. Completely in love with her. He chases her everywhere." Draco said as if he was discussing how paint dries.

"They let her run around like that? That must not be healthy." Harry questioned while spreading butter on his toast.

"And those wounds on your wrists aren't healthy either, but you know, they let you run around with that." 'Touche,' Harry thought.

"And Neville? What was he brought in here for? He looks pretty sane to me." Harry often admitted, he himself was quite insane. He didn't have the best self esteem.

"Binge eating disorder, he used to weigh a lot more. Good for him, he's dropped over 50 pounds. Snape told me, he should be getting discharged soon." Draco said disdainfully. Draco wished that when he lost weight, the staff and patients would be happy for him. Instead he got disapproving stares from everyone. 'Everyone, except Harry.' Draco thought with a smile.

Harry poured some dark coffee into his cup, staring at the color he was reminded of the darkest eyes he had ever seen. Harry looked around, hoping to meet _his_ eyes. Their eyes locked in competition. Harry knew he wouldn't back down. The thrill of the beast was just too good. Tom's eyebrow raised humorously. 'How can the devil, be so beautiful?' Harry thought and then squandered away the attraction. 'This was the devil he was talking about, not a male model,' Harry reminded himself. Their eyes never left each other, until of course Harry's eyes started watering from the staring contest. He felt like a failure, he couldn't even kill himself properly and now couldn't even win a staring contest.

Draco watched the hatred and slight curiousness in Harry's eyes and watched the spark of humor in Tom's eyes. He didn't like that his new friend was getting in with the wrong crowd. 'Damnit, hadn't he told Harry to quit angering the beast? But did he listen? No.' Draco fumed inside. Draco was just trying to watch out for his new friends. He didn't know when they had exactly turned to friends, Harry probably felt differently. But it was nice to have someone to talk to, even if it was mostly one sided.

They ate in silence, both caught in their own thoughts. It was a comfortable silence. It was broke by Madame Pomfrey coming and delivering their medicines along side was the new intern, Hermione Granger, taking notes.

"I have to take medicine?" Harry questioned the nurse. Draco took the tiny cup of water and his pills and swallowed in one gulp. He cringed as it went down his throat, hating the way the medicine tasted.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. It is mandatory. We won't have any trouble from you, right?" Madame Pomfrey asked sternly. Harry shook his head while taking the cup of water and the pills and downed them both with urgency. Hermione winked at him in remembrance, Harry paid no mind to it. He definitely didn't want another person to socialize with. Today was Sunday, he was brought here on Saturday. Tomorrow classes would start. Harry had never tried in school, since he knew he wouldn't be living by graduation. It was hard to study when you constantly wanted to end it all.

"Draco, are we actually expect to do well in our classes?" Harry might have asked a stupid question, but this was a mental hospital. With all their knowledge of mental illnesses, they couldn't expect them to have flying colors in their classes.

"They have incentives if we do." Draco answered with excitement.

"Incentives?" Harry questioned.

"If we do well in our classes we get special privileges, like being able to leave the facility to go to Hogsmeade! Oh Harry, Hogsmeade is a beautiful place. Full of shops and no one knows we're from the facility! It's great to feel normal for a little while." Draco answered. 'To feel normal and get out of here for a little while?' That sounded like heaven to Harry, the shops didn't really have an appeal to Harry since he had no money.

"The latest fashion is at Hogsmeade, though I used to go to Paris every year and see their fashion shows. Harry?" All this time Draco had been going on and on about Hogsmeade, Harry had tuned him out, too involved with his own thoughts of freedom.

"Sorry." Draco frowned, hurt that his friend hadn't been listening to him.

"Let me show you the library! It's huge, has every book under the sun. And there is a restricted section, we can't read those, but sometimes the right staff member will write you a pass to get in there." Harry was intrigued by this. 'What could be in the restricted section?' Deciding he had nothing to do, he went with Draco.

The library was huge. Since it was a Sunday, it was practically empty. It reminded him of the library the Beast gave to Belle in Beauty and the Beast. It was breathtaking. He let Draco grasp his arm and manhandle him around showing off his favorite books and places to read. He felt like Draco was growing on him. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not, considering he knew Draco was sensitive and he would certainly be upset if Harry killed himself.

At the end of their visit, Draco had checked out a vastly number of books. Harry poked fun at Draco, asking him if he was trying to prove he could read. Draco was surprised by the joking, as Harry was usually serious. Going out the doors to the library, they were walking back to their rooms while Draco talked excitedly about his new workout routine. Harry usually just tuned him out when he went on these tangents. Draco stopped in his tracks, making Harry stop as well abruptly.

"Father, what are you doing here? And Riddle?" Draco was extremely confused. The conversation didn't look to be going well, by the extreme paleness on his father's features.

Harry kept his eyes on Riddle the entire time. Studying Riddle had became his new favorite hobby. Riddle was a puzzle and he intended to figure him out. Even if he did hate the git. Riddle smirked, as if he had read Harry's thoughts.

"Draco, go back to your room and take your friend with you." Lucius said sharply with no explanation.

Still staring at Harry, Riddle said, "As much fun as this is, Lucius and I have some business to handle. We must be going. Seems we meet again, Harry. How unfortunate." And with that Riddle broke eye contact with Harry and walked off with an aura of power around him. Lucius looked at his son before following Riddle into another room. Draco ran down the hallway, disappearing. Harry sighed, 'Draco was way too sensitive.' Yes, Harry was confused and could somewhat understand why Draco had ran off. Probably hurt that his father had come to see Riddle instead of his only son. As much as Draco acted like he didn't care very much about his father, Harry knew he loved him deeply. And inspired to be just like him. He didn't know Mr. Malfoy that much, as this being the first time they met. But the countless conversations Draco had with Harry about his father, Harry knew that Draco was way better than his father ever could be.

Knowing Draco went in the directions of their shared room, Harry followed. He didn't run like Draco had, knowing Draco would still be there when he got there.

Finally getting to their rooms, he opened the door and saw Draco fiercely doing sit ups.

"Draco, stop. Let's talk." Harry said gently. This made Draco do the sit ups faster.

"Draco, come on. Talk to me." Harry prodded. It just wasn't working. So Harry did the only thing he could think of. He walked over and sat on Draco's stomach, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Get off me!" Draco yelled, tears coming to his eyes.

"No! Talk to me!" Harry snapped back. Draco fought back, but with Harry on his ribs, it made it harder to get up.

"Stop punishing yourself, Draco for your father's actions! I'm not losing you as a friend, so you better talk to me." Harry whispered out the last part, surprising himself with the wave of emotion he had when it came to the thought of something happening to Draco. 'Shit, he was attached,' Harry thought.

Everything went silent after Harry said that. Harry let up on Draco when Draco gave Harry a bone crushing hug. Not used to such close contact, Harry awkwardly pat Draco's back while he cried. Letting him release the emotions, while getting Harry's shirt wet in the process. Finally Draco released Harry.

"You want to talk about it now?" Harry said awkwardly. He wasn't used to the touching and the crying. 'How could someone be so weak in front of someone else?' Harry thought curiously.

"My father didn't visit me, but he can visit Riddle? What about me? His son…"

"The real question is, what was Riddle doing with your father anyways? What is this business they have together? Harry reminded gently. Though Lucius hadn't explained to Draco what that business was, he was hoping that Lucius had had a past with visiting and seeing Riddle after seeing Draco.

"My father doesn't know Riddle personally. Well, that's what I thought anyway. We will have to watch him closely. Like Dumbledore does." Draco responded swiftly.

"Dumbledore watches Tom? Why?" Harry questioned.

"Dumbledore doesn't trust Tom. He's even tried to move Riddle to another institution, but my father votes against it and the Prime Minister follows his lead." Draco said nonchalantly.

"Your father votes against him? That doesn't sound weird to you? That he's keeping a murderer in the same institution as his son?" Harry couldn't believe Draco was being so calm about this. It was obvious something was going on between Lucius and Riddle. And if Draco wasn't going to find out Harry would. 'It's time to anger the beast,' Harry thought deviously.

"I don't question what my father votes on. That's a rule in my family." Draco responded.

Harry and Draco both mused on their own thoughts letting a comfortable silence come out into the room.

Hermione is beyond nervous. She had gotten a letter from Severus Snape, earlier that day handed to her by Madame Pomfrey. 'The doctor had never wanted to see her before, why would he want to see her now?' Hermione thought with anxiety. She made her way to his office, knocking on the door and preparing herself Snape called from the door, "come in."

She walked in and immediately noticed the lay out of the room, it reminded her of a dungeon. 'It was freezing like a dungeon,' Hermione remarked in her head. There were two plush chairs in front of his desk, sitting down at the one in the right. Hermione looked around at the room, noticing the many paintings.

"Ms. Granger, how long have you been an intern here for?" Snape asked, giving off waves of superiority. Hermione wanted to cower, but knew to be strong.

"About 2 months and 2 weeks, sir." Hermione answered with precision.

"Then I'm guessing you know the rules?" Hermione looked into his eyes, confused. Of course, she knew the rules. She only studied them a billion times.

"Yes, sir."

'Was she in trouble?' Hermione thought with fear. She really couldn't lose this job, she had wanted to work at Hogwarts, for as long as she could remember.

"Then you'd know that getting close to patients is against the rules." Snape responded, flipping through the rule book and showing Hermione the rule.

"Yes, sir. But all I've done is talk to them. They need someone…" Snape sneered at this.

"Don't tell me what they need, I am their doctor! They need medicine and therapy. Not silly, little girls." Snape snapped, his voice becoming impossibly colder with each word.

"Have you ever listened to them? And heard what they wanted? You can't be so obtuse and think that all they need is medicine and therapy. They need friends, that give them a positive influence!" Hermione knew she should shut up, but she just felt so passionate about the patients here.

"I don't need to listen, Ms. Granger. I already know what they want. To get out of here and the only way that will happen is if there are rule following nurses, doctors and interns." Severus ground out. The girl was getting on his nerves. He briefly remembered when he used to be like her, so passionate about the patients and what they needed. Of course, that changed with the many years he had worked here for.

He saw the Granger girl about to respond, when he interjected.

"Get out of my office and make sure it doesn't happen again. I will be watching and reading the reports." Severus said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He watched Hermione storm out of his office in anger. Her anger reminded him of Lily. With those thoughts, he continued reading the other reports.

Hermione had decided she hated the doctor. 'He was so obtuse!' Hermione thought. Hermione sat down on one of the benches in the hallway and put her head in her hands. She knew she shouldn't aggravate the man that could make or break her career. She just hoped the doctor could forgive her and let her continue working here. Her adrenaline had kicked in during the heated argument and now she was left with extreme anxiety.

Harry had been walking to the library , hoping to bring back the books that Draco borrowed, seeing as he had told Harry he had no purpose with reading them. 'Bloody git,' Harry thought affectionately. He heard something, turning into a hallway, he saw the new intern crying on a bench. 'What's with everyone crying today?' Harry thought with confusion. He decided that he was going to comfort her, feeling bad for the way he had treated her earlier.

"Hermione, right?" Harry said, hoping that was her name. Hermione jumped, scared by the noise. She looked up and Harry noticed her eyes were puffy and swollen. 'Probably from all that crying,' Harry thought snidely.

"Yes, Harry. Is there a problem?" Hermione answered, wiping her tears away with her hands.

"No problem with me. Is there a problem with you?" Harry questioned, sitting down on the bench next to her.

"I'm just anxious that's all. I'll get through it, don't worry about me." Harry nodded his head while listening. He could relate to having anxiety, he lived with it every damn day of his life.

"You know what helps with my anxiety?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione.

"What?" Hermione said, hiccuping.

"I keep counting back from a hundred, and when I get to a hundred if the anxiety hasn't passed I keep doing it until it does." In truth, Harry was a damn liar. He never used any method to help with his anxiety. He just wanted to get his two good deeds done for the day and go back to his usual no empathy self.

"I'll try that. Thank you, Harry." Hermione smiled, showing off her pearly whites. Knowing it was his time to leave, he got up and waved goodbye to her.

"Oh, Harry! Please don't tell anyone about this, the talking together I mean." Hermione explained shyly. Harry looked at her weirdly, but nodded his head in agreement.

'Strange one, she is…'

It was finally dinner time at Hogwarts. Harry wasn't really hungry, but Draco dragged him down to the dining hall. The dinner hall was filled to the brim with patients and staff alike.

"Something big is about to happen." The girl, Luna said from behind where he was sitting.

"Everyone may I have your attention," Dumbledore called out, in front of his podium. Dumbledore had everyone's attention at that point.

"We will be joined with an esteemed new teacher that will be working at the institution. I'd like you guys to make her feel welcomed. She has been appointed by the Prime Minister, himself. Her name is Dolores Umbridge. She will be here later this week." Dumbledore announced.

His eyes immediately went to Riddle, who stood up and strode out the door of the dining hall. 'Where was he going?' Harry thought before whispering to Draco he would be right back.

Call it paranoia, but something was going on. Why would Tom leave like that? And why was he angry? Harry determined to find out, followed the beast out of the dining hall.

Hey guys! Things are heating up at Hogwarts! Next chapter, there will be tons of Harry and Tom scenes. Are you excited? I am. As always, make sure to follow the story and review. Thanks for reading! :)


	4. Chapter 4: Confrontation

This is where things start to really heat up. A long Harry and Tom scene in this chapter! Hope you enjoy! :)

Let me know what you guys think, thanks! On with the story!

Harry kept his eyes on Tom's back, making sure to be quiet. 'Where was he going?' Harry thought as he followed behind him at a great distance. As if reading his thoughts, Tom stopped in his tracks. Harry hid behind a wall, as Tom turned and looked behind him. Finally, Tom started walking again, this time walking faster. Harry almost blew his cover, trying to keep up with Tom.

Tom went a bunch of directions, it felt like Harry had been through the entire castle when finally Tom made his way down the stairs and to a room. Closing the room behind him, Harry made his way to the window on the door to look through it, hoping to see what Tom was doing when the door opened. 'Shit,' was all Harry could think before he was met with the beast's eyes. Harry gulped.

"Get in. We need to talk." The beast said coldly, making way for Harry to come in. Knowing he had been caught, Harry walked into the room. The room had only one cot and a bookshelf. Completely clutter free, and very clean. 'This must be his room,' Harry thought feeling awkward for being inside the beast's chambers.

"Do you make it your mission to get under my skin? Because it's clearly working." Tom sneered.

Harry replied, feeling sassy, "yes Tom I do. Do you make it your mission to do things you shouldn't be doing? I'm sure Dumbledore would love to hear this mysterious business you are doing with Draco's father." Tom's eyes zeroed in on him, like a snake. The room seemed to grow colder.

"Is that a threat, Potter? I don't take too kindly to those." Tom ground out.

"Well then you better tell me what that business was." Tom laughed at this, the sound horrific to Harry's ears.

"Oh Harry, do you think it's that easy to get information out of me? I guess you're more stupid than I had previously thought." Tom said with ease. Harry was enraged. 'Him? Stupid? Absolutely not!' Harry screamed in his head.

"Tell me what you're doing and I won't tell. I'm sure Dumbledore could go up and watch the security cameras himself. And I'm sure the Prime minister doesn't know that Lucius is talking with a mental patient. Imagine the dent to his reputation if the newspapers got a word of this?" Before Harry could say more, his shirt collar was grabbed and he was slammed to the wall roughly. Tom holding him against the wall, his hot breath on his neck.

"You're playing a very dangerous game, Potter. Now I strongly advise you to keep your mouth shut."

"What, Tom? Will I be killed mysteriously on top of the roof too?" Harry said whimsically. Tom was taken back, his mouth forming an 'o' shape, before going back to it's usual frown. Not being one to back down from a challenge, Harry glared at Tom. Their eyes never straying from each others. Tom's breathe was hot, making Harry shiver. Neither one was backing down, and Harry was tired of these staring challenges. Tom unpinned Harry, breaking eye contact. His head tilted back and he started laughing. Making Harry's hairs stand up. He decided he hated hearing Riddle's laugh.

"You have no proof." Tom challenged.

"So you're not denying it?" Harry challenged again. Tom smirked.

"You're not backing down. How interesting. Especially, for someone who tried to kill themselves. Aren't you people the type that never try?" Tom questioned crudely, not denying or agreeing with Harry's question. Harry's eyes formed into slits. 'If looks could kill,' Harry thought.

"That has nothing to do with the topic of the conversation, Tom. Stop deflecting." Harry said coldly. Tom smirked, his eyebrow raising.

"You wanna know what I think about you Harry?" Tom asked with mirth.

"Not particularly. But go on." Harry answered flatly.

"Your parents died protecting you and you thank them by cutting into your skin every night? You're selfish. And even worse, weak. Death isn't an answer, it's a decision. One I am not making. While you sit up in your room, wanting to die. I'm making a name for myself, everyday. We are very different, Harry. For I am strong, while you are weak. I don't respect you or am afraid of you. But you are fun. I'll give you that." Tom answered getting in Harry's face with each word said.

"Now get out of my room. And keep your mouth shut." Before Harry could answer, Tom grabbed him and forced him out. Slamming the door in the process. Tom's words had hurt Harry. He wasn't selfish. That git didn't know anything about him. He wasn't weak and he was going to prove to Tom that he was better than him. He was the strong one. The stronger one. And he would be respected no matter what. Looking at the clock in the hallway, he noticed dinner was over. 'Shit, Draco's probably wondering where I went,' Harry thought with dread. Knowing Draco would grill him for all the information.

"So you're telling me, you followed Riddle when I specifically asked you not to get involved with him and let it go?" Draco said in annoyance.

"Yup." Harry admitted guiltily.

"I'd be careful Harry. No one has ever threatened Riddle like you did." Draco warned.

"What can he do? Kill me? HA! He'd know he was doing me a favor." Harry said bitterly. Draco frowned at this, not liking his friend talk about death. The conversation then changed to Draco talking about the rest of dinner.

Dumbledore was doing paperwork when the door to his office, opened loudly. He looked up, in no way surprised to see Severus there.

"What is it, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, already knowing the answer.

"You know why I am here! I thought we agreed not to have the Prime Minister send someone into the school? I'm doing fine, I don't need someone coming in and questioning the way I do my work!" Severus said, his voice raising with every word.

"Severus, there's nothing I can do. My hands are tied. The Prime Minister threatened me with tax cuts if I didn't allow this to happen. And we can't afford to lose our money." Dumbledore replied calmly.

"We can ask our top donors to donate more money. We'll tell them what's going on." Severus said, convinced that his idea was right.

"They all follow the Prime Minister. Even Lucius tried to stop Dolorus from coming into the institution, but the Minister put his foot down. There's nothing we can do, Severus." Dumbledore, said gravely.

Severus stormed out of the room angry, Dumbledore sighing at the dramatics.

Everyone was up bright and early that morning, especially Harry. Today was when classes started up again. And Harry was quite nervous as he still didn't know everyone.

"Everything will be alright. It's just school. Didn't you do that before you were here?" Draco joked, sensing he was nervous about classes. Harry remembered what school was like and he hated it. His cousin made it a living hell for him, having people beat him up all the time and the teachers complaining to his aunt and uncle about Harry not applying himself enough in his studies.

"Yeah…" Harry said trailing off. Draco didn't ask, and Harry was thankful as he didn't feel like sharing. They both got dressed and headed to breakfast before classes began.

"Harry, I forgot to ask, what do your timetables look like?" Draco asked, while crunching on an apple.

As if someone had heard Draco, Madame Pomfrey came up to Harry, giving Draco and Harry their medicine.

"Here you go, Harry. Here's your schedule. Good luck on your first day!" Draco immediately grabbed his schedule from Madame Pomfrey's hands while Harry gave a quick thank you.

"Hmm, seems like we both have maths and english together. But I have chemistry as my third class of the day while you have it as your last class. Bummer." Draco sighed. Harry was saddened by that, but happy he at least had two classes with Draco.

"What's my third class, Draco?" Draco lit up at this.

"History. Good luck, Harry. You'll need it." Draco laughed.

"Why?" Harry asked, confused.

"History is taught by Cuthbert Binns. Aka, the most boring teacher ever. You'll hate him, I promise. I had him last semester, almost failed due to falling asleep all the time." Harry rolled his eyes at that. Of course, Draco would use school as nap time.

"Well we better get going, don't want to be late for your first day!" Draco said excitedly, tugging on Harry's arm. Harry just let Draco manhandle him, getting used to Draco doing what he wanted.

Right outside the classroom, Draco asked, "will you sit with me?" Draco looked down, expecting Harry to say no.

"Sure," Harry said with no hesitation. He was quite relieved Draco had asked him as he was too prideful to have asked Draco. Draco grabbed Harry's arm again and led him into the classroom, stopping to find a desk that was good enough for Draco to sit in.

The lesson began and all Harry could think about was what Tom Riddle had said to him. Was he being selfish? Was he weak for wanting to kill himself? He was so sure he wasn't, but now not so much. Harry wished he hadn't let Riddle get to him. He briefly remembered how close Riddle had been to him and how his breathe sent shivers through him. He shut down those thoughts as soon as he began thinking of them.

All of a sudden, Severus Snape came walking in and asked to see Harry. Harry and Draco both looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what was going on. Harry followed Severus out of the room.

Once out of the room, Severus turned to Harry with a serious look in his eyes and said, "we found this note in your room." Severus held up the folded note and unfolded it, giving it to Harry to read.

Harry began to read, intrigued.

 _I can't go on anymore. Please forgive me, I just can't take the pain anymore. Please tell my family I loved them. This is the end of the road for me. Tonight, I will end my life._

 _Good bye,_

 _Harry James Potter_

"I didn't write this, Snape. I don't know who did this, but it wasn't me." Harry pleaded that the doctor believed him. He'd hate to be sedated again.

"We can't prove that you didn't, Harry. We take suicide notes as a serious matter." Severus said, not believing in the slightest chance Harry was telling the truth.

"But i didn't write-"

"You will be on suicide watch for 72 hours, Harry. During this time, you will be in a room by yourself and will be closely monitored. Follow me to get changed." Severus interrupted Harry's pleading. Resigned, Harry followed the doctor into a padded white room. The room had nothing in it, except for a toilet and tons of cameras.

"Change into these." Severus gave Harry brown paper bag like clothing. Harry thought this was a little too excessive even for someone who did write a suicide note. Severus walked out, giving Harry the 'privacy' he needed to change. Walking back in, Severus took Harry's old clothing and went out of the room locking it in the process.

Harry sat down on the floor, contemplating how the next 72 hours would go. His mind drifted to the suicide note. 'Who would have written it and signed his name? Certainly not Draco.' Harry thought with confusion. His mind went to the argument he had had with Riddle.

"He wouldn't... " Harry said to himself in disbelief. His disbelief turned into rage as he thought about all the dots coming together to connect the letter to Riddle's doing. Oh, Harry was angry. Harry knew this was supposed to be a lesson for threatening Riddle and warning Harry to stay out of Riddle's business. If Riddle thought he'd listen now, he was out of his damn mind. No, once he got out of here, things would be a whole lot worse.

That night Harry stayed up planning his revenge.

Shorter chapter than usual, but I think the amount of Tom and Harry moments make up for it. Hope you guys like it! Let me know by liking and commenting. Thank you so much. :)

Stay tuned for Tom's POV in the next chapter. :)


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